Further thoughts on risk appetite

In my previous post I discussed risk appetite and options to consider as it relates to your business. Something else to consider when putting together an insurance program for your business is risk transfer. This is something that large companies do all the time but the small business owner might not even be aware of this useful tool. Ask both your subcontractors and suppliers to name you as an additional insured on their policies. Make sure that their limits are at least equal to yours. Some of them may be hesitant to comply but you'll find that most will willingly do so as it has become a fairly common practice across the industry. By making this simple request you have in effect given yourself an extra layer of coverage than just the limits you carry on your own policy. It's best to create a tickler file to follow up every year at their expirations to ensure that an up to date certificate is provided to you. The one thing you'll really appreciate is that this is one aspect of your insurance program that you won't have to pay for.

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